GRAND RAPIDS, MI – More than 20 members of the Detroit Tigers will be a part of the West Michigan Whitecaps Winter Banquet Thursday night and it promises to be an emotional one that includes team owners talking about the ballpark fire and players speaking to the media.

The live blog will get going about 5:40 p.m. just prior to players including Max Scherzer, Nick Castellanos, Rick Porcello, and Andy Dirks meeting with the media for a scheduled 30 minutes.

The Tigers then have an hour of other events before team President, CEO and General Manager Dave Dombrowski serves as the keynote speaker for the sold-out event of more 900 at DeVos Place. The address, expected to start at 7 p.m., is among the highlights of the the Whitecaps’ first public event since a fire heavily damaged a side of Fifth Third Ballpark.

Owners Lew Chamberlin and Denny Baxter are also expected to address the crowd.